Dictatorship for Dummies: A Masterclass by the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight

[marmar]

Dictatorship for Dummies: A Masterclass by the Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight
When your regime is part mafia spoof, part constitutional crisis, things stop being funny real fast…

Thom Hartmann
Mar 25, 2025


The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight was a 1971 movie starring Robert DeNiro about a mafia family in New York that’s led by a buffoon who surrounds himself with other incompetents and thus seems to always screw everything up. It’s the perfect metaphor for the Trump administration.

....(snip)....

Given how Republicans in Congress and candidate Trump peeled the bark off Hillary Clinton for a handful of Secret emails that accidentally ended up on her personal email server, you’d think this will lead to resignations and possibly even prosecutions for violations of multiple laws and policies regarding classified information.

Sadly, that’s unlikely; like the bumbling Mafia family in the movie, this bunch is similarly led by an incompetent criminal (convicted of 34 felonies and found liable for “what is commonly understood as rape,” among other things).

....(snip)....


Dictatorial regimes are famously corrupt, and a hallmark of most is the ignorance and incompetence of the people the dictator has surrounded himself with; this, though, is beginning to approach the level of street theater. It’d be funny if it weren’t so dangerous. ...............(more)

https://hartmannreport.com/p/dictatorship-for-dummies-a-masterclass-56a

[LaMouffette]

1. Ha! I just logged in to do a post with "the gang that couldn't shoot straight" in it. Thom beat me to it. I don't know

which is more frightening: their determination to destroy American democracy or their incompetency. The first will lead us to becoming a dictatorship; the second will lead us to a possible nuclear war.

We are on the precipice of both of these horrifying scenarios.

[creon]

2. Dictatorships have to be corrupt

Such regimes survive by corruption.
The tyrant, and his close allies, use coruption to buy loyalty. Akin to extorsion.
The population, low and high ranking, use bribes to get they need done.

The name of the game is loyalty. Not competence.

[NJCher]

3. this is the crucial paragraph

Speaking of the judges who will be deciding if trump can ship people out of the country:

snip

The outcome of the Appeals Court hearing will be fascinating; the only one of the three judges who seemed comfortable with the administration’s argument was Justin Walker, who’d been appointed to his position by Trump himself during his last term. Obama appointee Patricia Millett was openly skeptical, noting that “Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act” than these immigrants, while Reagan appointee Karen LeCraft Henderson didn’t say anything during the arguments.

snip

Thom seems to think it will go to the SC, but seeing the backlash, I'm not so sure it will go that far and even if it does, not convinced the SC would go that far, either.